Our iPhones and iPads are capable of amazing things, but most of us only use a small percentage of their abilities. In this weekly column I share tips and tricks for beginners, or anyone who wants to harness the full power of their iDevice. This week, I'm going to give tips for using assistive features for those who have disabilities.

1. For those users who are blind or have low vision, the iPhone's VoiceOver feature helps you navigate the touch screen even if you can't see it. Just touch the screen and a voice will tell you what app is under your finger. Double tap to activate the app. Swipe left and right to move from one app to the next.

VoiceOver can announce each character on the keyboard as it's touched to help compose an email or make a note and then speak each completed word. It can also move through a web page or document using a virtual control called the rotor. By turning the "dial," VoiceOver reports settings like headings, links, and images.

Just triple click the Home button to access VoiceOver.

2. If you are deaf or hard of hearing, iOS 7 has a variety of ways to help you.

If you buy or rent a captioned movie or TV show from the iTunes Store (look for the CC icon), you can access this feature by going to Settings > General > Accessibility > Subtitles & Captioning. Toggle Closed Captions + SDH to on. 

When you're using headphones, it might be helpful to use mono audio so you can hear both audio channels in both ears instead of stereo's distinct left- and right-channel audio. Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > and turn Mono Audio on.

3. Some users may have difficulty with some iOS gestures, like pinch or pushing on the Home button. Assistive Touch lets you adapt the Multi-Touch screen of your iDevice to your unique physical needs. Turn Assistive Touch on by going to Settings > General > Accessibility > and turn Assistive Touch on. From here you can create your own custom gestures to control your device.

The Switch Control feature (found right above the Assistive Touch feature) gives the user options to interact with their screen through an adaptive accessory or even by head movements using the FaceTime camera.

4. If you have cognitive or learning disabilities or attention struggles, Guided Access can help. I gave instructions for this in a post several weeks ago, using the feature to keep a small child from accessing other apps on your screen. But this feature can also help people with autism or other attention and sensory challenges stay focused by limiting an iOS device to one app. 

My son has dyslexia and a feature that is helpful to him is Speak Selection. He can highlight text, tap Speak, and his iPhone will read his selected text out loud. He can also have words highlighted as they're being read, so he can follow along.

For additional features and more detailed descriptions on how iOS 7 can help those with disabilities click here. 

The holiday season is in full swing, and for those of you still looking for that special gift for the audiophile in your life, we’ve  put together a roundup of choice apps and gadgets that can't go wrong!

* Don't forget, the iTunes App Store allows us to gift apps as well as music!

Apps for Music Lovers

Traktor DJ for iPad ($19.99)

Traktor DJ for iPhone ($4.99)

With this app everyone can become a professional sounding DJ. Traktor puts the full power of on-the-fly audio DJ-ing at your fingertips. Traktor DJ will make mixing beats and tracks from your iDevice a simple and intuitive process that you'll be able to immediately sink your teeth into. Traktor DJ brings an extensive list of features to your iDevice including a ton of built-in effects, automatic track synchronization, Flux mode for mixing tracks live, pre-listening, time-stretching, and simple touch-based controls. Its depth and ingenuity is sure to amaze even a seasoned professional mix master. Traktor DJ is the best DJ app for iDevices that I've ever used, and I've tried many of the available options.

Audio-3D Player 7.1 ($5.99)

This app will take your headphone listening experience to an entirely different level. This is one of the coolest audio augmentation apps I've had the pleasure of experiencing. Audio-3D Player squeezes every last ounce of performance power out of your headphones, turning them into a HiFi home cinema emulator. This app transformed my quality headphones into a device that delivered a listening experience unlike any I'd ever had. To say I was impressed with Audio-3D would be an understatement, you'll just have to check it out for yourself!

Gadgets for Audiophiles

UE BOOM ($199.99)

The ruggedly designed UE BOOM is one of the best miniature Bluetooth speakers on the market. It pumps out a tremendous sound,  one that you'd tropically associate with a much larger and much pricier sound system. Add to that the fact that the BOOM allows you to pair two speakers simultaneously for full stereo HiFi performance and you will appreciate why I consider the BOOM to be virtually unrivaled in its class.

BOOMBOTIX REX ($119.99 - $129.99 *for Limited Edition)

If portability is a priority, but you don't want to sacrifice power and punch, then the compact yet mighty BOOMBOTIX REX is very worthy of consideration. This tiny powerhouse is stylish, unique, ruggedly crafted, and precision tuned. It sports two mini-drivers and a passive bass radiator slipped in for good measure; all working in concert to bring you a sound that is hard beat in a mini-boombox of this size. The REX is perfect for anyone who wants to bring the party with them wherever they may go this holiday season and into the New Year.

SMS Audio's Street ANC Over-Ear Headphones ($279.95)

If you follow my online articles here at iPhone Life you're already familiar with the SMS Street noise cancelling headphones. The Streets are some of the most comfortable and best fitting, and on top of that, best sounding headphones you will find. Their lightweight, yet extremely rugged construct is crafted to deliver years of hi-performance listening enjoyment. With their active noise cancelation feature and studio mastered sound (thus the name: SMS) the Streets will make the perfect gift for any audiophile on your holiday shopping lists.

Scosche RH1060: Reference Grade Bluetooth Headphones($199.99)

More and more I am finding Bluetooth headphones that go against what many audiophiles consider true, that you just can't get lossless-quality music out of a pair of Bluetooth cans. This assumption is based on the way that audio has to be translated and compressed to transmit via Bluetooth. Meet the Scosche Reference Grade over-ear headphones. First of all, not only do these headphones give even the best of the wired headphones a run for the money, the RH1060 also comes with the ability to connect them via an auxiliary cable for those times when battery power (either on the headphone or iDevice end) needs to be conserved. I've tried a lot of great Bluetooth and wired headphones, and the Scosche RH1060 still rank as one of the best overall in both categories.

I hope some of these suggestion come in handy and prove useful as you look for last minute gifts for those audiophiles in your life.

Happy holidays iPhone Lifers!

There's a buzz over Angry Birds Go (free), and 'freemium" titles in general to discuss in this edition of WIPTW. I was not aware that computer bits were being subjected to such draconian work conditions on our devices that they needed to rest; but Angry Birds Go introduces the "energy" concept to the Rovio game chest: a union break for overworked player characters, I suppose. Otherwise, ABG has plenty of good graphics, and is mostly goofy and fun like a cart race should be. Also played this week is the jam-packed action pinball slam of the season called Quantic Pinball ($2.99). If you like pinball, you will gorge yourself on this version.

Angry Birds

It does on the face of it seem a bit cheesy for Rovio (the premier makers behind the monstrously successful Angry Birds enterprise), to do something like make an ad-loaded, IAP-smooching game like ABG. They have had plenty of success with the subsequent AB offerings, which pretty much held to the old paradigm of the one-time buying of the whole game. They even added content to their games with updates after the initial releases. Serious accolades are deserved. It begs the question though; are app developers becoming the money grubbing robber barons of the e-commerce world? Not totally, in my opinion.

The application space today is so crammed with apps, that it really is like apples to oranges when compared to buying games years ago that might have taken years of development effort to create.; games that might also stay viable for long periods, even on resale. So one should probably not judge the greedy, er, I mean-enterprising, Rovio developers too harshly in trying to further their empire in this very competitive space. To be fair, they made a good game, and also made it free to play (to a point). But how is the new AB game other than the deplorable "energy" aspect, which I'll explain in a minute? Great, actually, and also, well mostly, free.

Angry Birds Go is fun to play, even the umpteenth time you have have to run the same course to clear out all the various challenges. It looks and sounds great (even on my "old" iPad mini), and though it isn't quite Super Mario or Crash Bandicoot great, it is on a par in many aspects. I am judging it from just the first course challenge only, because well, it timed out on both my characters (due to lack of energy), and then told me I had to wait 10 minutes to start again. I had played almost every level under the first course by that time.

Annoying yes, and maybe enough to make players get bored and move on, but still an all-round jolly good time. Ads are also inserted into the game as power-ups, which is admittedly a little on the creepy, Skynet, "we know what you like while you are playing" side of things. The overall point is basic obnoxious virtual cart racing, jumping about the various topsy-turvy racing challenges, and smashing into competitor carts. At least in the case of the first course, it is an all down-hill run with some speed boosts and obstacles thrown in. You run various events (race, time trial, fruit smash, etc.); and in a cool twist, you recruit your pool of racing characters from whoever you beat in the boss rounds.

Obviously, if you rise fast and far enough, you can rotate characters to let them rest for longer play experiences. Or you can just plunk down a bunch of virtual IAP payments to help you upgrade everything to blast through it all. The currency of ABG is coins and crystals, which unlock better car features. I give another tsk-tsk to Rovio for not really coming up with something more original and for loading the game full of money-grubbing tricks (the best cars have to be bought with IAPs, really?), but for an excellent and mostly [annoying] free racing cart game, one should not really complain too much.

Quantic Pinball

You should know if you have read other WIPTW posts that I love pinball, so any pinball clone instantly catches my eye. Quantic turns pinball into a Dodonpachi-style avalanche of flashing, mesmerizing pinball action that startles the senses, and almost made me go into a drooling mind-lock on a couple of occasions. It's pinball of course, but uber-modernized into a slick, fast, and nutty avalanche of lights and sound, and above all includes the coup-de-grace of modern pinball: The multi-ball free-for-all.... Oh, yeeaah! You get a lot of those in this amazing pinball immersion.

There is even a darn space invader-like, spider-zapping mini-game that can be unlocked in each level. Weird stuff abounds in this freakish pinball—in certain modes, the table lights all go out, except a small area around your ball, requiring you to slap at anything getting close to the flippers—and each level seems to go on and on until you think your brain will melt! It starts to become a nightmare merry-go-round you can't seem to get off of; but it's still too entrancing to stop playing. So as pinball action goes, this is a unique and original take, and therefore I like it a lot!

You can grab either of the above mentioned titles at the links above. What are you playing this week?

Monday Apple posted their Best of 2013 lists, including Music, Movies, TV Shows, Apps, Books, and Podcasts. The free Duolingo - Learn Languages for Free, was named iPhone App of the Year. And it's well deserved. Not only can you use it to learn Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, and English, but the app makes it fun. It uses gaming techniques to help you learn. And, interestingly, the app also has a crowdsourcing function, such that in the process of learning and doing translations, you are helping translate the Web into other languages. 

Ridiculous Fishing - A Tale of Redemption ($2.99) got the nod as the iPhone Game of the Year. Receiving the award for Top iPad App of the Year is Disney Animated ($9.99), which gives an interactive in-depth look at Disney feature film animations. Badland ($3.99) was named Top iPad Game of the year. 

In each app category (iPhone app, iPhone game, iPad app, iPad game) you can also view the runners-up, the top-selling apps of the year, and the top free apps of the year. In addition, the lists include trending apps in a dozen categories such as Stylish Photo Editing, Indie Games, Split-Second Video, and Bite-Sized News. You'll definitely want to spend some time browsing these lists.

Gravity was selected as the Best Movie and Breaking Bad as the Best TV Show of the Year. Tenth of December was named the best novel and Bill Bryson's One Summer was named best nonfiction book. AsapScience got the award for best new video podcast, and The Adam and Dr. Drew Show was named best new audio podcast. 

Not only are these great lists, but overall you get a feeling for the rich and well-organized panoply of the iTunes Store. Apple has done well. 

Depending on where you live, you may think winter has already blown in, but astronomical Winter doesn’t arrive until December 21, so you still technically have time to prepare for Winter.

We’ve written many times on the pages of iPhone Life magazine, and in this blog, about external batteries that extend the life of iOS devices, but you also need to consider the power needs of desktop and laptop systems. I was in the middle of copying some movies over to my iPad last time the power went out (hoping to get them on so I could watch them should the power go out). The movies were on a powered external hard drive. Needless to say, the iTunes copy didn’t finish. Although the Macintosh and the iPad were still powered, the hard drive stopped working and anything not copied was immediately aborted.

Other devices to consider are WiFi routers, VoIP and phones, and networked storage, all of which go down when the power goes out. An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) on the home WiFi system means local services, like printing and file sharing, will continue to work despite the loss of Internet access, at least for a while. UPS systems are meant to give you time to finish what you were doing when the power goes out, and then bring down systems gracefully—and to protect them from surges and spikes when power is restored.

I recently had CyberPower send me their EC Series 850va, 510 Watt Battery Backup (EC850LCD, $121.95) for review. Now, you may not think that laptop systems need to concern themselves with a UPS; but many peripherals, like printers, disk drives, and other components aren’t connected to the laptop’s power, so they go down when the power goes down. Only items like USB-powered disk drives and SD cards remain available when main power ceases to flow.

CyberPower’s UPS is as sophisticated as they come for home use. It features 12 outlets, 3 of which are “ECO mode.” In “ECO mode,” the UPS stops feeding power to the outlet if it doesn’t detect a draw. Four of the outlets are widely spaced to accommodate charging blocks. 6 outlets include battery backup and surge protection while the other 6 only offer surge protection. At 12.2 x 3.1 x 7 inches, the unit will fit almost anywhere. Depending on the load, the EC850LCD will run for up to 10 minutes (at 210W of connected devices—at 425W it will run for a little over 2 minutes). The battery under the hood is sealed lead-acid (which technically means there is no hood). The EC850LCD will also protect phone lines should you still have one. An LCD on the top of the unit displays input voltage level, output voltage level, battery capacity, runtime estimate, load capacity and mode. The UPS can lay flat like a traditional power strip, or be mounted via mounting holes on its underside. The EC950LCD comes with a three-year warranty and $100,000 in connected equipment coverage should it fail to protect your hardware from surges.

The CyberPower UPS connects back to the PC with a UPS cable. This allows for the PC to monitor the battery and to provide for automation. A downloadable control panel displays the internal status of the battery. It also provides a way to initiate system shutdowns according to pre-programmed schedules. When the power goes down, audible alarms sound, and the PC setting from the control panel can take over and begin the shutdown automatically.

CyberPower makes a range of UPS units to fit personal needs, though for the relative costs, get the best one you can afford. I would suggest trading off features for backup battery size to keep costs down.

So as winter rears its snowy head across the Northern Hemisphere, make sure you have a couple of spare batteries to keep your iOS devices running in a crisis, but also make sure you main systems, disk drive,s and peripherals are protected from the scourge of blackouts—and that you give you and your computers time to react before going dark.

(P.S., I've tested the UPS to see if it works in theory, and everything worked fine. I'll let you know if a storm takes out my power again over the next few months and how the EC850LCS performs in a real world situation).

Big Lens($0.99) just had its two-year anniversary in October and is still going strong. Recently selected as a Starbucks "Pick of the Week," this photo blurring app offers much more than tilt-shift effects, but should you give it a try?

Design

Like most photo editing apps available, Big Lens lets you capture a photo from within the app, or import one from your Camera Roll to be edited. From there, you can select either Basic or Advance mode for altering your photo's depth of field by selectively blurring certain elements in your photo.

Functionality

Basic mode
Big Lens' Basic mode works similarly to most tilt-shift apps and even Instagram's tilt-shift feature. Select a circle or bar that you'd like to be in focus, and the app will add a gradient blur outward from your focus zone.

Advance mode
This is where the real fun is. Advance mode lets you select an area to remain in focus, but isn't limited to a circle or bar like Basic mode. Paint over or lasso your subject, and let the app take over the rest.

Each mode features Aperture and Lens tools to you can use fine-tune the resulting blur's gradient and intensity to achieve a more natural depth-of-field effect.

As an added bonus, Big Lens offers many different filters to alter your photos. An adjustable slider resides above your filter options, changing the selected filter's intensity. Admittedly, they aren't the best I've seen, but filters aren't the focus of this app (pun intended).

Pros

• Easy to use
• Natural looking results

Cons

• Built-in filters leave much to be desired

The Verdict

With the right amount of tweaking to the app's built-in tools, Big Lens gives your photos great depth-of-field effects that just aren't possible with the iPhone's camera. If you're big on iPhone photography, Big Lens is definitely worth a download.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Soen Audio is a relatively new company comprised of former JBL and Harmon engineers. But they're coming in swinging with their first foray into the Bluetooth speaker arena with the Transit($199.95). 

Design

The Transit features an industrial design, and is clad in flat black, rubberized TPU with brushed aluminum accents. The speaker grill dominates the front of the device, with an aluminum divider down the center to separate the two speakers.

On one side, you have your power switch, AUX input, micro-USB charging port, and what Soen calls the "Momentum Port," designed to maximize bass response. Atop the Transit are volume buttons, along with a Bluetooth pairing button, while an inconspicuous kickstand resides on the device's back.

Functionality

Pairing your device with the Transit is pretty straightforward. Just hold the pairing button atop the speaker, select it on your device once it's discoverable, and you're good to go—as long as you have enough battery. I had no issues setting up the speaker.

I'm no audiophile, but for a speaker this small (6.6-inches long, 3.8-inches tall, and 1.3-inches deep), the Transit blew me away. Its maximum output is just a tad shy of being able to fill a moderately sized room, but I found its clarity to be unmatched compared to other Bluetooth speakers I've used. The Transit pumped out crisp highs and satisfying lows from every music genre I threw at it, and even performed well with movies. Distortion was minimal at best at higher volumes, and didn't suffer as much as I thought it would.

Although it's an often overlooked feature in Bluetooth speakers, the Transit also serves as a speakerphone. In my handful of call tests with the Transit, no one even realized that I wasn't speaking into my phone. On my end, voices came in loud and clear.

With such a nice sounding speaker, it's a shame that the Transit didn't live up to Soen's promises of an eight-hour battery life. In my testing, I rarely got over five hours of use before needing another charge. That's not a short amount of time by any means, but other comparable speakers fare much better.

The Good

• Easy to setup and use
• Great sound quality for its size
• Beautiful design with great build quality
• Speakerphone works remarkably well

The Bad

• Short battery life

The Verdict

If you're in the market for a Bluetooth speaker, the Soen Transit packs a huge punch in its small package. It may not be as popular as the offerings from Jawbone or Braven, but it can definitely give those speakers a run for their money. 

On Tuesday Apple began airing a touching holiday commercial that highlights the video capabilities of the iPhone 5s. The ad, called "Misunderstood," features a family Christmas gathering over several days and a teen with an iPhone who seems to be disconnected from what's going on and instead distracted by his iPhone. 

But it turns out he's been making a video as his gift to his extended family, which he then shares via AirPlay. And family members are moved to tears. The ad is understated, saying nothing about the iPhone. You simply see the teen using it, and then see his work.

Your chance to win an unlocked gold iPhone 5s and a pair of  Monster Active Noise Cancelling Inspiration Headphones ends tomorrow, December 20, at 11:59 p.m.! 

Sign up now, if you haven't already, and start sharing to increase your chance of winning this prize with a retail value of almost $1000!

Here's how the giveaway works: enter your email at the GIVEAWAY PAGE. Earn one additional entry each time you share the giveaway with a friend via email, Facebook, or Twitter. Get 10 more entries every time someone you shared with signs up. There is no limit to the number of additional entries you can get by sharing the giveaway; so if you go all out, your chances of winning will shoot off the charts!

And if a friend you referred wins the iPhone 5s and Monster Inspiration Headphones, you'll win a pair of Monster Inspiration Headphones too!

So don't dilly dally, ENTER NOW and start sharing before the contest ends!

Love fine print? Read the full giveaway rules HERE!

Speculation about a smartwatch from Apple has been going on for some time now; but recently we've been starting to get some tangible hints it's coming, with the rumors saying it will arrive next October. First of all, we know for a fact Apple is very actively engaged in wearable computing, and it seems obvious that this will be the Next Big Thing. In addition, Apple has watch-related patents. Add to this two recent reports that say Apple's iWatch is coming. According to a post on MacRumors, a Chinese website with contacts in Apple's supply chain has reported that Apple will release the iWatch at the same time it introduces the next iPhone in October, 2014. Reportedly Apple hasn't yet decided on the specific screen size. In addition, the article says the watch will have wireless charging capability. 

Additional evidence comes from The Motley Fool, which reported that a company called Universal Display indicated to market analysts that their future profitability looks rosy thanks in part to the arrival of an iWatch in 2014. They would be manufacturing the OLED display for the device. 

If an iWatch has any interest at all to you, then you'll definitely want to check out a great article on Wired. It includes a gorgeous animated gif showing iWatch concept art, and just that alone shows how appealing an iWatch could be. The article also describes what an iWatch would be useful for:

Combined with the right software, these devices could be useful for monitoring more than your existing feeds, streams, and inboxes. Many have pointed to predictive software like Google Now as an example of how other types of information could be packaged into bite-size, at-a-glance morsels. Google Now, paired with some sort of wrist-worn display, could bring sports scores, calendar alerts, and traffic updates to your person all without you having to ask for them.

But the point of the article is that, given the imminent arrival of wearable devices, Siri could well be the killer app for an iWatch. The author says that Siri hasn't really caught on with smartphone users for a variety of reasons, one being that it's "cognitively at odds" with how people are accustomed to using their smartphones. He says, however, that the small display of a watch isn't suited to the sort of gestures one is accustomed to, and that Siri would be the perfect interface. He presents an appealing vision of how Siri would work on an iWatch.

Of course, the big challenge would be that Siri requires an Internet connection, and that's hard to achieve in a device as small as a watch. 

Finally, see a post on The Diplomat for a roundup of the evidence pointing toward an iWatch.

Whether we see an iWatch or not, an interesting article on CNET assures us that Apple's 2014 won't be like 2013. This year was a year of incremental improvements. Next year, the article says, will introduce new directions, with the possibilities including a watch, a TV, eyewear, a suite of software for built-in displays in automobiles, and more. And the article says this overall shift toward "mobile, wearable, augmented-reality computing" is just the beginning. 

Do you have an idea for an app but lack the programming knowledge to begin building it? In this weekly blog series, I will take you, the non-programmer, step by step through the process of creating apps for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Join me each week on this adventure and you will experience how much fun turning your ideas into reality can be! This is part 34 of the series. If you are just getting started, check out the beginning of the series here.

Whether you are for or against the new U.S. healthcare initiative, everyone agrees on one thing. The launch of the HealthCare.gov web site was an unqualified disaster. Most visitors who came to the site when it was first rolled out saw the message shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 - The all-too-common wait message on the Healthcare.gov site

One of the main problems with the site is that it didn't scale well. According to reports, there were 4.7 million unique visitors to the site in the first 24 hours and the infrastructure of the site was simply not up to the task. Fortunately, it's been a few months since the rollout and it appears that many of the initial problems have been fixed.

As you begin to explore accessing web services from your iOS apps, you have to ask yourself the questions "Will my app be ready if it goes viral?" and "How can I avoid a disaster similar to the Healthcare.gov site?" Unlike the Healthcare.gov site where U.S. citizens are required to register for healthcare, if your app has a disastrous launch, it's very difficult to get users to come back after a bad experience. So you want to get it right the first time.

Outsourcing Your Web Service Hosting

Even if you have the skills to host web services on a server that you manage yourself, unless you are guaranteed to have a small, finite number of users, you probably don't have the ability to scale your web services in the event that hundreds of thousands of users begin hitting your web server from apps installed on their iOS devices. This is where third-party companies that have years of expertise in very large scale web applications can help you out.

Three of the biggest players in this arena are Google, Amazon, and Microsoft, although there are many other vendors such as Hewlett Packard, IBM, Oracle, and Rackspace. 

There are a variety of reasons why you might want to have your web services hosted by one of these companies. For example:

• Automatically scaling as your user base increases
• Storing and retrieving data
• Orchestrating push notifications to your users
• Allowing interaction between users
• Authenticating users

In this series, I'm going to explore the services offered by the three key players, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. In this post, I'll provide an overview of what each company has to offer. However, to help you make a more informed decision on which company best suits your needs, in upcoming posts I will demonstrate in detail how to set up and consume web services in an iOS app from each of these vendors.

Web Service Programming Languages

Although you have been using Objective-C to write the code in your iOS apps, you need to choose another programming language for your web services (sorry, you can't use Objective-C for this). Some of the more popular languages are:

• Java
• JavaScript
• PHP
• Python
• Ruby
• .NET

Don't panic! In a future post I'll show you the basics of what you need to know to create your web services.

Data Storage Options

Most hosting companies offer a variety of database choices for storing your app's data. Some of the more common databases are:

• Oracle
• Microsoft SQL Server
• MySQL
• Proprietary databases such as Google's Cloud Datastore

As you will learn, some of these options require that you learn SQL (structure query language) programming, and others provide higher-level access to data by means of entities, similar to Core Data.

Google App Engine

Google is certainly a company that knows a lot about handling millions of concurrent web requests quickly and efficiently. The Google App Engine (Figure 2) is part of the Google Cloud Platform and is designed to support iOS, Android, and HTML apps. It was released as a preview in April 2008 and went live in September 2011.

Figure 2 - Google App Engine provides services for iOS, Android, and HTML/JavaScript apps.

Google has companies such as Snapchat, Rovio, and Khan Academy using their App Engine. Google also supports most of the popular web programming languages

Regarding costs, Google App Engine is actually free up to a certain point. It costs nothing to get started and there are no recurring fees. Apps can use up to 1GB of storage and enough CPU and bandwidth to support serving about 5 million page views per month, at no cost. Once you get past this threshold and enable billing on your account, you control the amount of resources your app can consume, which allows you to keep within the budget you specify. You can find out more on the Google App Engine pricing page.

Amazon Web Services

Amazon is another company that has vast experience in handling millions of simultaneous requests. Amazon Web Services (AWS) offers services for iOS, Android, and HTML apps, providing a separate software development kit (SDK) for each platform. AWS officially launched in 2006, and is therefore the most mature of the web service vendors.

Figure 3 - Amazon Web Services have been around since 2006, making them the most mature.

AWS boasts large app customers such as Shazam, Flipboard, and socialcam. They also support most of the popular web programming languages such as Java, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, PHP, and Microsoft .NET (not supported by Google App Engine). 

There are no up-front setup costs for AWS, but unlike Google App Engine, you do need to pay for even low usage. You can find out more on the Amazon Web Services pricing page.

Windows Azure Mobile Services

Although Microsoft doesn't have a widely-used high-transaction web site such as Google and Amazon, they do have a large presence in the gaming community with Xbox Live, and they have been offering software solutions in the field of high-transaction web computing for a number of years. Windows Azure offers services for iOS, Android, HTML, and (you guessed it) Windows Phone since February, 2010.

Figure 4 - Windows Azure supports iOS, Android, HTML, and Windows Phone apps.

The Windows Azure platform is used by well-known apps such as Flickr for Windows Phone, NBC News, and Lexis/Nexis. This definitely reflects Microsoft's longstanding roots in business software. Microsoft provides development kits for .NET, JavaScript, PHP, Java, Python, and Ruby. 

Microsoft offers Windows Azure for free up to 10 mobile services with a 20MB SQL database. For more information check out the Windows Azure mobile services pricing page.

Conclusion

With the array of choices available, it can be difficult to decide which service is best for you and your apps. So, in my upcoming posts, I will take one vendor at a time and show you how to perform the setup and consumption of a basic web service. As you will see, some services are easier to work with than others, and it may be that you choose a particular vendor because it supports the options that are on your "must have" list. Let the comparison begin!

Social media platforms like Facebook have changed the way we interact with friends and family, and many would say for the better. It’s become easy to get in touch, stay in touch, and reconnect, and the practical applications have been endless. Planning a get-together, project, or reunion? Disseminating information efficiently is a breeze. Private conversations and group conversations are intuitive and simple. So is sharing photos, files, and links. Now a new app, Classting, is changing the way real classrooms interact—virtually. 

Hyeon-gu Cho was an elementary school teacher who noted that students didn’t want to add teachers and parents to their social media accounts. He also took note of the fact that the school’s website and communication options were clunky, old fashioned, and largely rejected by his students, who didn’t visit it. A light bulb went on: Why not create a fun, easy-to-use social media app designed specifically for education? One that could create virtual classrooms in an intuitive, dynamic manner. Thus was born Classting. Instructors start virtual “classrooms” which allow their students to interact with one another and the instructor. Parents can join in, too. The UI is similar to popular social media platforms, but tweaked to offer special school-focused features.

Some of the more valuable features include an instantly updated notification feed strictly for class announcements; an ongoing newsfeed to find out everything that’s going on with the classroom; and the ability to leave feedback and reward helpful comments, share files, and more. Teachers and students can also engage in confidential messages. Finally, there’s also an option for “tinging” other virtual classrooms for an online exchange program. The possibilities associated with this are endless. Tutoring, cross-cultural exchanges, and more are potential pluses of this feature. Users also have a personal home page which they can use to express their thoughts and ideas, share stories and photos, and socialize casually.

Classting is easy to navigate, and it’s bright, attractive graphics are worlds above the usual outdated online bulletin boards many schools have used up until this point. It’s also incredibly easy to get started, and it’s ready to go almost immediately. Inviting students, adding instructors and parents, and getting the whole class involved is a painless endeavor. What’s more, Classting is cross platform, offering a web app for PC users, an iOS app for those with Apple devices, and an Android app for those with other smartphones and tablets. 

Classting is a game changer in educational collaboration software. It’s more than a productivity app, in this sense. It’s brilliant, and at first glance one wonders why it hasn’t been done before now. Now that it’s out there, however, it’s likely that students, parents, and teachers will soon wonder how we ever went without it. It’s available now, and can be downloaded for no charge in the iTunes App Store. Users can also explore Classting at www.classting.com. 

It seems that almost every day we read a story about a company getting hacked. There's no doubt that hackers have been very busy lately. But there is no need to live in fear. There are things you can do to protect your privacy at home and on your iDevice.

While this list is far from being exhaustive, I give you three ways that you can protect yourself from hackers, those who steal your phone, and yourself (as in when you lose it).

Keep it locked

When you are away from home, you should keep your iDevice locked. It's very important to do this because chances are really good that you stay logged into all your social media profiles. If you were to lose your iDevice (whether you left it somewhere or it was stolen), the person who has it would have access to all of your signed-in accounts. Apple gives you two options (three with the 5s) to lock your iDevice:

1. 4 digit PIN
2. password
3. TouchID (5s only)

You can access these settings under Settings > General.

Can these be cracked? Yes. But they give you time to go to a computer (or to another iDevice you own), log in to your Apple ID, and disable your missing iDevice via Find My iDevice.

Enable Two-step verification

Two-step verification makes you virtually unhackable. Now, I hope it goes without saying (but I'll say it anyway): If you have two-step verification enabled but you leave your iDevice unlocked and it is lost or stolen, you are not protected.

What two-step verification does is requires you to have three items in order to access your accounts:

1. your username
2. your password
3. your smart phone

When you log in to a profile with two-step verification enabled for the first time from a new computer or browser, you will receive a text message with a six-digit code that you will need to access your profile/account. For some accounts (such as Google) when you log in on your desktop computer, you will not have to re-enter the six-digit code for 30 days.

Two-step verification prevents someone who stole your username and password by hacking a company from accessing your account because they still need to have access to your smart phone.

An exhaustive explanation of two-step verification is beyond the scope of this blog post. I encourage you to look it up and give serious consideration to adding it. It's tedious to set up, but the protection it offers is worth it.

Some places hat offering two-step verification now include Google/Gmail, LastPass, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, Dropbox, Evernote, PayPal, Microsoft, Yahoo, and LinkedIn. More websites are adding two-step verification all the time.

Complex passwords

I hope I don't need to tell you that "password1234" or your name or your last name and the four digit month/date of your birthday are NOT good passwords.  

Complex passwords are much harder to crack. What is a complex password? It has at least eight characters (the more the better), upper and lower cases letters, numbers and special characters. I use LastPass (the desktop version is free, the mobile version is $12 annually) to create my complex passwords. And your LastPass master password must be complex as well (otherwise, your other passwords are not secure). I only have three passwords memorized: my LastPass password, my Apple ID, and my bank password. LastPass remembers the others for me.  

Important note about passwords and your social media profiles: do not have the same password for more than one account. Your Facebook password should be different than your Twitter password which should be different than your Google+ password, etc.

I have given you three ways to keep your iDevices safe: lock your iDevice when away from home, enable two-step verification, and use complex passwords. What other ways do you have?

This is the official announcement of the iPhone life Biweekly Giveaway! Be sure to enter the giveaway at iphoneLife.com/giveaways to win prizes, which we'll announce December 30th! We are raffling off tons of great apps and accessories for FREE.

Here's how it works: Every other Friday we will announce the prizes we're giving away through iphonelife.com, Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. To enter the giveaway, go to iphoneLife.com/giveaways. On the following Monday morning, we will randomly select the winners. If you win an app, we will email you the promo code to redeem the app for free. If you win an accessory, send us your address and we will mail it to you.

This weeks featured items are:

1. Otterbox Reflex Series iPad Case: Retail Price $69.95

Otterbox's engineers and industrial designers carefully considered every aspect of the iPad to create a simple, yet protective case. Inspired by the crumple zone of a car, the Reflex Series case for iPad 2, 3, and 4 features a unique dual material combination of polycarbonate and silicone. Cushions of air in the corners allow the case to flex and absorb any impact force. This case not only takes a hit, it recoils and springs back, ready to protect again. If you're looking for strong yet sleek protection, look no further than the Reflex Series case for the iPad 2, 3, and 4. 

2. Otterbox Reflex Series iPhone 5: Retail Price $34.95

Lifestyle and protection come together in this highly protective case. Providing innovative protection, the Reflex Series dockable iPhone 5/5s case is lightweight, easy-to-dock, and portable—leaving you with a secure feeling of protection wherever and however you use your smartphone or tablet.

3. Sena Magia Wallet for iPhone 5/5s: Retail Price $54.95

Match the sleek look of the iPhone 5s/5 with a case that is designed to secure the phone without adding bulk. The Magia Wallet's unique clean and reusable adhesive mount secures your phone. The case also functions as a three-card wallet.

Questions or comments? Email Brian@iphonelife.com. Good luck and remember to visit iphonelife.com/giveaways to enter! Also check out our other contests at iphonelife.com/contests. The next contest drawing is December 30th!

As new iOS apps flood the App Store every day — recently topping 1,000,000 — we know it’s tough to tell which ones are worth their salt. But thanks to our Weekly Scoop, you can have the best for free! Here you’ll find a weekly roundup of the coolest apps free or at a discount for a limited-time only. Each week features the best and brightest from websites like Free App Report, AppsGoneFree, appsfire, and more.

Hurry! Get 'em while they’re hot!

1. Daily Butt Workout(free)

Get ready to get back in shape after all your holiday debauchery with this fantastic app!  Choose from three different five to ten minute butt-toning workouts and follow the video for easy to understand exercises that will help you get those buns of steel!

2. Pick ‘n’ Mix – by Bluebear(free from $2.99)

Free for a limited time, this is a fun game for both grown ups and kids! Make and choose from a huge variety of sweets to create your very own candy combination. The graphics are colorful and inviting, creating an experience that’s just like being in a real candy store—without all the sugar!

3. Sketch Me!(free from $1.99)

Free for a limited time only, Sketch Me! is a fun and easy way to turn your favorite photos into sketches. You can apply up to six different image effects to create fabulous looking images to share with friends and family via Facebook or email.

Some of the top app developers have gotten together and created a website called App Santa where they are promoting special Christmas pricing on some of the most popular apps for the iPhone and iPad. Apps with hefty discounts include 1Password ($9.99, marked down from $17.99), Scanner Pro ($2.99, marked down from $6.99), Mileage Log+ ($4.99, marked down from $9.99), Printer Pro ($2.99, marked down from $6.99), Tweetbot ($1.99, marked down from $4.99), and 10 more. If any of these apps interest you, now would be a good time to download them.

If you're interested in games, PocketGamer has posted a list of the 146 best Christmas game sales and freebies for iPhone and iPad.

And the 148 Apps website has a curated list of hundreds of the best apps that are offering holiday price drops.

Described as an interactive M.C. Escher artwork, Monument Valley may change the way you play puzzle games. It's currently being developed by London-based design studio Ustwo, specifically for iPad.

Using architecture as the primary focus, Escher's Ascending and Descending printplayed a key role in the game concept. Throughout the game, you'll find moving platforms, shifting stairs, and various other illusions customary in Escher's artwork. But the game also draws inspiration from previous titles, like Zelda and Myst. What makes Monument Valley different from other puzzle games is its emphasis on the building itself using a bird's eye view, rather than a first or third-person camera angle.

With this Escher-like prespective, you will have to figure out how to guide the main character, Ida, to the highest tower. Each level brings new obstacles, ranging from waterfalls to crows blocking your path. As you maneuver through the building, you must alter your surroundings and solve puzzles to accomplish your goal.

“People have an innate sense of geometry, patterns and space,” says Ken Wong, artist and designer of the game in an interview with Wired. “We find cubic forms and staircases and interlocking tiles beautiful. There’s also something satisfying and even a bit mystical about shapes lining up perfectly.”

Monument Valley will be released for iPad sometime in 2014, with other mobile devices following shortly after. To get a chance to beta test the game, you can sign up here.

Game Centered features roundups and in-depth reviews of the best in iOS games and related gaming news. This week, in advance of Apple’s annual iTunes Connect closing dates (12/21-12/27) we've been treated to a whole slew of top-of-the-line new games and big updates that slipped into the App Store just in time for Christmas! We've got a lot of exciting gaming news to cover, so let's dive right in. And don't forget, the App Store allows us to gift apps and any of the following games would make excellent holiday presents.

Apple Announces Picks for Best Games of 2013

Congratulations to the winners of this year’s coveted Apple "Best of Games" awards. Apple just announced their picks for best games of 2013. I was happy to see that the winners for both iPad and iPhone best games also made our list of best games here at iPhone Life.

For the complete list of Apple’s prestigious "Best of 2013" award list, click HERE.

New Games:

Updated Hits:

There's no shortage of folio-style cases for iPad Air on the market, and with Apple offering their own Smart Case, it's easy to miss all the alternatives available. If Apple's leather cases aren't for you, then CaseCrown has you—and your iPad Air—covered with the Omni ($35).

Design

The Omni comes in four colors: purple, gray, and blue, while a black carbon fiber option is available as the fourth choice. The colored options feature a synthetic micro twill cover, with its inside lined with microfiber. The last variant sports a synthetic carbon fiber look with a rubberized matte finish on both sides of the front cover. The back of each case is a black polycarbonate that protects the back of your iPad Air. Cutouts are available for each of your device's buttons, ports, and microphones.

Functionality

If you've ever used Apple's Smart Cover, then the Omni will be instantly familiar to you. Closed, the Omni holds itself shut with built-in magnets that also play nicely with Apple's sleep/wake feature. It's four-piece lid folds back easily to be used as a viewing or typing stand, each with a fixed angle.

Moving from the desk, to chair, to bed, or otherwise is easy with the Omni. The case is remarkably thin for offering full body protection of the iPad Air and doesn't add much noticeable weight. The Omni is solid enough if you want to take your iPad out often. I never had any issues with the sleep/wake function or the case not remaining closed.

Pros

• Thin profile, lightweight

• Full iPad protection

• Doubles as a stand

Cons

• No button coverage

Verdict

CaseCrown's Omni for iPad Air isn't the flashiest folio case out there, but it's tough to beat for the price. If you're looking for full body protection without the bulk, the Omni is the perfect fit.

If you are still on the lookout for a late holiday gift or gadget, check out the iBN26 from iHome ($79.99). This small portable speakerphone allows you to stream and play your favorite music, as well as make and take calls through the surprisingly peppy Reson8 speakers. With aux-in support, you can also use it to play input from almost any external source.

The iBN26 is light, so the first thought I had was that it is cheaply made. I have reviewed a few iHome units in the past, and in every case found that the systems produced a good audio experience for the cost—speakers typically priced below other higher-end audio systems with similar features. I always like the design aspects of every speaker system they make, even if not what you might term "top of the line." The iB26's attractive black/grey polycarbonate shell seems very sturdy, but a lightweight speaker normally translates to a lightweight sound. Not so with the iBN26.

At the first pairing/playing experience, I had an exasperating problem where the speaker kept ramping up volume to max level (which is pretty loud.) I had to reset and power off both the speaker and my iPad to get it to stop doing that. The iBN26 has common button control on the top side (Talk/play/pause/volume, etc.) If you have an NFC capable phone, it integrates with the capability of the device, but there isn't much to say on that since Apple hasn't chosen to adopt any capability involving NFC. The included USB port on the back, which also charges your device, is easily accessible and a convenient way to extend the always too short lightning cable.

Sound coming from the speakers was quite good, and it also proved to be a great way to drive audio from my computer using aux-in. There was little to no distortion at high volumes (to a point, and depending on the music), though I admit the iBN26 performs much like most small compact speakers—little separation, and though not exactly a rich complex sound, still able to drive overall tones pretty well. As a speakerphone, the small unit similarly worked very well, including speakerphone echo cancelation. One minor complaint is that the control buttons on top are a bit too snappy. They literally make a loud snapping noise when pressed, and as a result feel a bit cheap.

Pros

• Decent sound quality in a small package
• Easy to configure and use

Cons

• No rechargeable battery

The Verdict

The iBN26 is a tiny, yet capable speakerphone. As a small office or computer/iPad speaker, it works well. As a mobile Bluetooth speaker, the lack of rechargeable battery (which most small BT speakers now include) makes it less useful, but still viable if you don't mind lugging the charger with you. The retail price might be a bit pricey at $79.99, so try a web search (Amazon had in-stock units for almost $20 less.)